Sixty men showed up at Broadway and East 16th Avenue on Thursday, all set on hailing Union Taxi.
It was a formality, really. The Public Utilities Commission session they descended upon was merely a slam-dunk approval of new rules opening up Denver’s taxicab market.
But the men are cab drivers, nearly all of them African immigrants, and the white polo shirts they wore carried the name of their aspirations: Union Taxi Cooperative.
The drivers want the company up and running in time for that cash cow with the massive moo, the Democratic National Convention in August.
“We’re excited,” said Abdi Buni, president of the fledgling company. “This is a tremendous opportunity.”
What’s novel about Union Taxi is that it is a cooperative. The 262 drivers own it, sharing profits and losses.
If the commission grants them temporary authority at its July 2 meeting to put the planned green-and-white fleet on the streets — with permanent permission to follow — drivers say they’ll be ready to pick up fares by midmonth.
Union Taxi, rooted in an actual cabbie union, would join three existing area companies: Yellow, Freedom and Metro. Those companies have about 950 cabs on the streets; Union would bring 100 to 150 more.
What makes this possible is a new state law that takes effect July 1. Where once Union’s backers would have had to prove that existing cab companies weren’t performing up to snuff, it’s now up to the competitors to argue that a new cab company would ill-serve the public.
Abdi Mussa, who came here from Ethiopia, doesn’t see that happening. “I know this town from house to house,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”
Basically, all Union has to do is show that it’s financially and operationally viable.
Most of the cabbies own their cars and drive as independents for the existing companies, paying them a big cut of their daily take. Now they want to slice their own pie.
Take Buni, who grew up in Somalia. He arrived here eight years ago, continuing the taxi career he began in San Diego. He worked for Yellow Cab and now drives for Metro.
“I’ve lived all over, but I call Denver home,” he said. “It’s great. The American dream is what brought me here.”
Like all of us, cabbies feel the pinch of high gas prices.
“It seems most of our money goes into our fuel tanks, and the rest goes back to the taxi companies we work for,” Buni said. “No one is speaking up for us.
“Working together, we hope to save money so we’ll have more for our families.”
Union Taxi is pitching some worthy goals, including better service for the handicapped, who often have difficulty getting cabs. And the drivers hope for an all-hybrid fleet within five years.
Still, they worry competitors will throw up roadblocks.
“One thing we’re concerned about is that there has been talk that we shouldn’t be in business until the Democratic National Convention is over, that it would somehow be disruptive,” said Ray Gifford, the former PUC chairman who is Union’s attorney. “Our rebuttal is we’ve been waiting years for this, and our cab company has roots in a labor union.
“Last time I checked, Democrats and labor unions were pretty friendly.”
Buni and his fellow drivers hope to chase DNC dollars as vigorously as anyone sporting a briefcase and power tie.
“All we’re asking for is an opportunity to run our own business,” Buni said.
How American is that?
William Porter’s column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1977 or wporter@denverpost.com.
